Jordan Henderson’s potential return to boyhood club Sunderland has all the makings of a fairytale, and Dan Neil’s latest admission only adds yet more fuel to the fire.
It’s one transfer saga that already appears poised to dominate the headlines when the January transfer window rolls around.
The touted return of one of European football’s most decorated midfielders over the last decade to the Stadium of Light hasn’t proved distruptive to Sunderland’s season, though, with the Black Cats remaining very much airborne in their exhilarating pursuit of promotion back to the Premier League.
Sunderland won on four occasions throughout October, recovering from a turbulent run in September to redefine their promotion credentials and race five points clear at the top of the league with the Championship’s most youthful – yet most exciting – squad.
While Kyril Louis-Dreyfus and Kristjaan Speakman are currently enjoying the fruits of their labours by seeing their persistence with a youth-centred recruitment and playing philosophy, Sunderland are now also of the knowledge that experience is imperative – which they found out the hard way last season.
We took at some of the best and worst transfer scenarios for Sunderland in January
As such, the Black Cats are reportedly interested in striking a January reunion with Henderson, who is said to be open to heading back to England after struggling with both Al-Ettifaq and Ajax following his departure from Liverpool in 2023.
Henderson has been something of a bit-part player at Ajax this season and it’s no surprise he’s been touted to leave the club in January—and everyone at Sunderland will be hoping his next destination is Wearside.
Dan Neil’s Jordan Henderson verdict amid potential Sunderland return
22-year-old midfield general Dan Neil, who was elected as Sunderland captain at the start of the current campaign, recently weighed in on Henderson’s potential return, and he made little secret of his personal feelings towards the prospect of sharing the pitch with him.
Indeed, Henderson very much laid the blueprint for a player like Neil to thrive at Sunderland. He showed that it’s possible, having come through the Black Cats’ academy ranks to make more than 70 appearances at first-team level before earning a blockbuster switch to Liverpool. The rest, as they say, is history.
When quizzed on if the prospect of potentially lining up alongside Henderson at Sunderland is appealing, Neil said: “Of course, yeah.
“He’s a top-quality player. So whenever you play with top-quality players, you embrace it.
“Yeah, he can come back if he wants.”
Jordan Henderson experience factor could be crucial for Sunderland
Given that Henderson is now 34 and finds himself very much in the twilight of his career and at least two to three years away from his finest form, the potential reunion at Sunderland has attracted certain skeptics.
The skepticism isn’t entirely unfounded, of course, and such a school of thought is also backed up by the number of players in recent years who’ve returned to where it all started at the end of their careers only to flatter to deceive.
It’s important to note, however, that Henderson’s influence would be at least equally important off-the-pitch—his experience, pedigree and know-how at the very highest echelons could prove instrumental in an extremely youthful squad.
The 81-cap England international famously captained Liverpool to UEFA Champions League glory in 2019 and then their first ever Premier League triumph the following season, and that degree of leadership would represent an additional boost in itself.
| Jordan Henderson’s Liverpool stats, as per Transfermarkt | ||
| Appearances | Goals | Assists |
| 492 | 33 | 59 |
It’s probably the one thing which you feel Sunderland could benefit from having a bit more of at this moment in time, and Henderson brings leadership and experience in spades.
On the pitch, meanwhile, Sunderland’s midfielder has an average age of just 19. Neil, Chris Rigg, and Jobe Bellingham are all extremely talented, and each has the potential to net Sunderland serious money in the not-too-distant future, but they also still require guidance at the early stages of their respective careers.
Sunderland would have to be careful in the sense of not restricting their individual development stages and lessening their collective minutes on the pitch just to accommodate a 34-year-old veteran, of course, and that perhaps represents the very stiffest challenge regarding the move, but if they can pull it off and maintain a degree of balance then it could quickly become a real coup.
